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Forty Days of Prayer – Day 22

Psa. 31:14-15a–But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord, I say, You are my God. My times are in Your hand.

Father God, I confess that it is often difficult to not compareâ€”my writing career to how someone elseâ€™s has developed, my books to how someone elseâ€™s has been accepted, my life to how I once thought it would beâ€”and I ask You to forgive me when I do compare and find myself disenchanted with Your perfect will.

You are the incomparable God, the only I AM, the Beginning and End, the unchanging God of mercy and might. Lord, we submit ourselves to You again today. We submit our writing endeavors and all the results into Your capable hands. We pray for hearts that truly believe that others are better than we are and minds that our so focused on Your will that we donâ€™t care about gaining glory for ourselves. And, then, Lord, with Your strength, we lay ourselves before You in united joy for the stories entered in the Book of the Year contest. May we all trust You, the One who knows all needs and the intricacies of each heart, to bring the perfect results from this worldly form of comparison.

May each writer know they are a winner because they live in Your Spirit. May each work of fiction touch the thousands of millions of lives for which You called it into existence. May each one of us celebrate joy in each otherâ€™s successes. And may we not compare because we will say with the Psalmist, “As for me, I trust in You, O Lord, I say, You are my God. My times are in Your hand.” And Your plan is perfect.